There are three main branches of Christianity. Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox.
Orthodox Christians are further divided into Eastern and Oriental Orthodox.
Key Takeaways
- The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination, with a hierarchical structure, centralized authority in the Pope, and belief in the sacraments and apostolic succession.
- Baptist churches are Protestant denominations characterized by congregational governance, emphasis on the believer’s baptism, and reliance on the Bible as the sole authority in matters of faith and practice.
- Significant differences between Catholics and Baptists include church authority, beliefs about the sacraments, and the role of tradition in religious practice.
Catholic vs Baptist
The difference between Catholics and Baptists is that Catholics believe in infant baptism. On the other hand, Baptists only believe in the Baptism of those who believe in the faith. They do not support infant baptism.
Catholicism is a word used to refer to the people who believe in the Catholic faith.
The word comes from the most prominent Christian community church, the Catholic Church.
There are three branches of Christianity. Bishops are the people of the highest order in the Christian faith.
Baptist, on the other hand, is a part of Protestantism. They have different beliefs, such as praying to Jesus alone.
There are two types of Baptists, General Baptists and Particular Baptists.
General ones tend to hold the Arminian theology, whereas the Particular ones have the Reformed theology.
Arminian theology is based on the ideas of Jacobus Arminius. He gave the Fiver Articles of Remonstrance. Reformed theology is called Calvinism.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Catholic | Baptist |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The word Catholic refers to people who believe in the Catholic faith. | The word Baptist refers to the protestant Christians who are against infant baptism. |
| Reach | Catholics have the most prominent Church. | Baptists are smaller in number as compared to Catholics. |
| Salvation | They believe that the way to salvation is through their faith and sacraments. | They believe that the way to salvation is through faith in Jesus |
| Belief | They pray to all the Saints and Mary. | They believe in praying to Jesus alone. |
| Purgatory | They believe in purgatory. | They do not believe in purgatory. |
| Infant Baptism | They believe in infant baptism. | They do not believe in infant baptism. |
What is Catholic?
Catholics are the people who believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son.
Certain beliefs distinguish them from other major branches of Christianity, such as the Bible being error-free and being the revealed word of God.
The word Catholic comes from the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church was believed to be established by Jesus, who lived in the Roman Empire.
Earlier, Christianity was restricted in the Roman Empire, but when the boundaries of Rome were diminished, it spread further.
Rome is the centre of faith for Christians. Because of this, the Pope (Bishop of Rome) got power over the Church.
Catholicism became the official religion in 380.
There are some beliefs of the Catholics, like they consider the Roman Catholic Church as the one true Church. They believe in purgatory.
Purgatory is the stage in a person’s afterlife where he/she suffers. During this period of suffering, the punishment for his/her sins committed in the earthly life is purged away.
They also believe Mary, the Mother of Jesus, remained a virgin and had a miraculous conception.
It is also believed that her body was taken to heaven. Thus, her corpse would not be found on Earth.
What is Baptist?
Baptists are also Christians, but they form a branch of Protestantism. This is because Baptists believe in the Baptism of the believers alone.
They are against infant baptism. Baptism is the process of admitting or adopting a person into the faith of Christianity.
It is also known as Christening.
Thus, the Baptists advocate that only those who choose to believe in Christianity and Jesus should be Baptized instead of Baptizing all the people when they are infants.
Many Baptist Churches emerged that work on the principles of accountability of every person before God and salvation by faith alone.
They believe in praying to Jesus alone and do not pray to Mary or the other Saints.
For Baptists, Baptism is only successful. The person has been immersed in water; otherwise, it is not considered valid.
Bruce Gourley is known as the Baptist Historian and has outlined the history of the Baptists. The origin of Baptist movement has its roots back in the 17th century.
This all started with the English Separatist movement, after which there was a surge in the number of Protestants.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England were separated during the Protestant Reformation.
Some people were dissatisfied with this and left the Church. These people are known as Separatists.
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Main Differences Between Catholic and Baptist
- Catholics support infant baptism, whereas Baptists are against the same. They tend to keep the Baptism of only those who believe in Christianity.
- Catholics believe in praying to Mary and the Saints along with Jesus. Baptists only pray to Jesus.
- Catholics believe in purgatory, whereas Baptists do not believe in purgatory.
- Catholics have the most prominent Church, whereas Baptists have smaller churches.
- Baptists believe that the way to salvation is only through faith in God. On the other hand, Catholics believe that salvation can be achieved through belief in the Holy sacraments.
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